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Need help with information about my wifes father.Died while POW on Japanese ship that was sunk12/15/44. Burial site BSMPH? All DOD records lostin stateside fire. West Point Class of 1936. TksWalter Earnest

There are some entries under the 'Scouts' heading concerning Karol Anthony Bauer. I wrote several and I used Lt Col Lapham's book,"Lapham's Raiders" as a source for my information and also Ancestry.com list WW II and Korean War prisoners. Also, WW II awards and medals. Ancestry,com gives a 14 day "freebie" to see if it is for you and during this time you could pursue Karol A. Bauer and obtain what they have.

They did have a fire back at the record center and I thought my Army records got "toasted" but mine escaped, others weren't so lucky. Also, the service men in the Philippines what records they had in PI were lost.

There were attempts in O'Donnell and Cabanatuan to restruct what battles had taken place. Get down on paper while it was fresh in the minds of the participants. And of course these written documents had to be kept from the Japs. I don't know what efforts were made to reconstruct personnel records, though.

Col Volkman, a guerrilla leader in Northern Luzon, was so inaccessible that the Japanese didn't do much raiding on him and he was able to acquire a lot of paper and history about his unit. That is one of the reasons so much is known about his units. While Major Ramsey and Maj Lapham did much actual contact with the Japs, but were always running from them and couldn't keep any written records that the Japs could get and decimate their forces with.

I will look in my over 100 books on this period and see if anymore references to Capt Bauer can be found.

Thank you Tom Mc Geeney for your kindnessin replying to our message for help in obtaininginformation about Major Karol Anthony Bauer forhis daughter Nancy, my wife. Your informationlead to a direct contact between Nancy and her fathers' sister----the first contact in 68 years.In fact it was the first contact Nancy ever had with a member of her fathers' family.

Could we ask one more favor? Our infomationshows Major Bauers' burial site as Manila BSMPH.Where and what is this??

Thank you again, you have done a wonderfulthing in bring this family together after 68 years

Glad I was able to help you out, and glad the family is together. BSMPH I think relates to Burial Site Manila Philippines. While I am not sure of the exact location, I think there is only one Place in Manila that relates to WW II burials.

I was over there in Jan '05 and visited with a former college classmate who lives in Manila. We went to lunch and he drove by a momument that was put up for all the dead and I think it referred to the retaking of Manila in 1945. There were no graves or other monuments and it was in a business part of Intramuros. I will ask around and see where this BSMPH is, as Manila is a big city.

Did you get on Ancestry.com and get the items pertaining to Major Bauer. I have that newspaper clipping on his graduation from West Point, the WW II Prisoners of War, 1941 -1946 Record, and WWII and Korean Conflict Veterans Interred Overseas Record. The two Records more or less duplicate themselves. If you go on Anxestry.com, they say to list the middle name, don't. Nothing comes up. Just put in Karol and Bauer for last name. I'll see of I can get a location for BSMPH.

I couldn't find out what BSMPH means from the people I contacted. I do think it might mean Burail Site Manila Philippines. Maybe the Verterans Burial on the internet might list all the Veteran Burial Sites World Wide and check out what they have for Manila, Philippines Verteran's Birial Site.

Grade: Major or Asst. superintendent of nurses or Director of nurses or Director of dietitians or Director of physical therapy aides Grade Notes: Major or Lt. Commander Service Branch: Army Arm or Service: Infantry Arm or Service Code: Infantry Area Served: Southwest Pacific Theatre: Philippine Islands Detaining Country: Japan Camp: 501 Status: Executed, Died in Ship's Sinking or Result of Ship Sinking, Shot While Attempting Escape Notes: Oryoku Maru POW Transport Ship: December Sinkings: See code in previous field (REP). (B)DS=Brazil Maru; (E)DS=Enoura Maru; (O)DS=Oryoka Maru; (X) Died during transportation from Olongapo to San Fernando, PI. Report Source: Individual has been reported through sources considered official.

I colored the sentence above in blue because I think the X before the word, died, is a purposefully used marker, and it is not an optional choice to select-your-guess.

#1 Source Information:National Archives and Records Administration. World War II and Korean Conflict Veterans Interred Overseas [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: MyFamily.com, Inc., 2000. Original data: National Archives and Records Administration. Register, World War II Dead Interred in American Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil and World War II and Korea Missing or Lost or Buried at Sea. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.

#2 Source Information:National Archives and Records Administration. World War II Prisoners of War, 1941-1946 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: MyFamily.com, Inc., 2005. Original data: World War II Prisoners of War Data File [Archival Database]; Records of World War II Prisoners of War, 1942-1947; Records of the Office of the Provost Marshal General, Record Group 389; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD.